


The Boat

by berrries



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Aang (Avatar) Is Not The Avatar, Alternate Universe - Different First Meeting, Alternate Universe - Modern: No Powers, Badass Katara (Avatar), Bisexual Sokka (Avatar), Bisexual Zuko (Avatar), Boats and Ships, Gay Sokka (Avatar), Gay Zuko (Avatar), Implied though - Freeform, Katara is such a mom, M/M, Mild Language, My First Work in This Fandom, Oblivious Sokka (Avatar), Past Mai/Zuko (Avatar), Past Sokka/Suki (Avatar), Past Sokka/Yue (Avatar), Rewrite, because this is a modern setting, toph is a lesbian queen, zuko is not in the gaang
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-27
Updated: 2020-08-27
Packaged: 2021-03-06 17:34:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,327
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26142670
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/berrries/pseuds/berrries
Summary: so when I watched Avatar for the first time, I wrote the same fic after finishing each book. so here we are. the same thing but progressively better.
Relationships: Sokka/Zuko (Avatar)
Kudos: 16





	1. Sleeping on the Job

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this one at 4am so it was rushed, lazy, and the worst. I hate it.

“Advertise! You can’t expect people to just wander onto the boat,” Katara told her brother.

“Kinda can,” Sokka mumbled. He rolled his eyes and walked to the ramp leading off the boat. “HEY! We have a boat here and we do rides and stuff! Pretty cheap if you ask me. We’ve got a great captain driving the boat too,” he called. A few people stopped to read the sign, but no one wanted to ride.

Except for one person. He had a burn scar over his left eye and seemed tense, angry almost. He dropped his coins in Sokka’s hand and climbed on.

“It’s time to leave,” Katara said as Sokka entered the captain’s steering room.

“We’ve got only one passenger.” She shrugged.

“Whatever. Let’s go!” The other driver, Aang hyped. Sokka sat on a bench in the passengers’ area, a little ways away from the guy with the scar. Aang and Katara stood by the wheel, getting the ride started. Sokka watched the front of the boat as it navigated the river.

“Name?” He asked the passenger.

“Zuko. You?”

“Sokka. Did you brush your hair today?”

“Did you style yours?” Sokka almost retorted, but Zuko had a point. He’d overslept and didn’t restyle his usual ponytail. He grunted and finally fixed his hair as Zuko played around with his, pushing it back and away from his face.

“Happy?” Sokka grumbled.

“No, but that’s for other reasons.”

“Like?”

“I hate my family.”

“Ah. Same.” Aang gasped from the wheel. “Cool it! I was being sarcastic! Geez. But why’d you come for a boat ride? This doesn’t seem like your type of thing and you’re the only one here.”

“An advertiser caught my eye.”

“Like, good caught your eye or ‘that’s the one I want to dismember’ caught your eye?” Zuko snorted.

“Maybe both.” Sokka grimaced.

“I can’t believe I’m going to spend an entire boat ride with you.”

“You could jump off.”

“You’re an asshole.”

“I know.” ‘Who IS this guy?’ Sokka wondered.

“We’re heading under a bridge!” Katara excitedly called. Sokka closed his eyes and laid back, preparing for a nice, short nap.

* * *

“You can’t sleep on the job! We shouldn’t have to pay you for today!” Katara yelled, waking Sokka. Aang stood behind her, nodding. Zuko stood, getting off the boat. Katara and Aang moved away and Zuko pressed a piece of paper onto the bench next to Sokka.

“Call me.” He stepped off the boat and disappeared.

“GAY!” Aang thundered from the wheel

“Shut up!” Sokka responded, face heating up. Katara peaked around the corner and eyes the piece of paper.

“Well, that’s your paycheck for today.”


	2. Boat Ride Stranger

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this one was probably the best. i loved this one.

“Why do we even have a boat?” Sokka complained.

“Well, we finished saving the world, we brought peace to all four nations, we should have some fun!” Katara hyped.

“Yes, and fun includes giving boat rides as a SOURCE OF INCOME.” Katara nodded.

“We get to see nature, and we get paid for allowing people to join us.”

“I don’t get to see anything!” Toph cheered sarcastically. “Besides, it’s the same river every time. You WILL get tired of it.”

“We can always move the boat to a different river,” Aang suggested. “We could be a touring boat ride business!” Sokka rolled his eyes.

“Sokka, why don’t you go stand by the sign and advertise,” Katara suggested.

“But the sign is supposed to do the advertising for us,” he complained. She glared daggers and he sighed. “Fine, fine.” 

He made his way to the sign down the path from their dock and leaned an arm on the sign. 

“Um… we’re giving boat rides! Pretty cheap! Actually, a little too cheap if you ask me,” he grumbled to himself, “but fun nonetheless! And you get to see nature! We have a blind girl who knows a lot about the surrounding nature, and a great…” he frowned as he thought of an interesting title for Katara, “water-navigator steering the boat! And a meteorologist! He knows the wind, also helps steer the boat. 

“My point is, we have a boat and give somewhat educational rides for cheap! C’mon, they’re fun! We leave in…” he checked his watch and literally jumped. “Five minutes! Nevermind, if you want to ride follow me right now!” He ran back down the path to the boat where Katara gave him an unamused look. “You never told me when to come back!” Katar didn’t respond, but Sokka knew she was thinking something along the lines of ‘you should know when to come back’. 

He boarded the boat and sat by the stairs, watching as the last customer dropped their coins in Aang’s hand. He looked around. There were a few people on board, two families and a few solo passengers. Two little boys were playing with Momo, who was flying around and bringing them fruits. Toph picked up each one and named it judging by the feel of it. Sokka leaned back on his seat with his hands behind his head. 

That final passenger climbed up the stairs and Sokka stopped breathing. He had a giant scar covering his left side, and yet, he somehow was still incredibly hot. He had long dark hair, covering his ears and eyebrows. Sokka actually froze.

The stranger gave him a weird look and kept moving, sitting only a couple meters away. Aang followed the stranger on and nudged Sokka.

“You look straaaaaange.” Sokka scoffed.

“I don’t.”

“You were totally checking him out.”

“I looked at his face, that’s not checking him out!”

“Oh, well I don’t know what that means because I’m younger than you,” Aang stated like it’s normal to use phrases you don’t know. He shrugged and walked to the ‘captain’s quarters’ as Katara liked to call it. Sokka laughed silently, remembering earlier when he called him a meteorologist.

“Not bad, Sokka,” he mumbled under his breath. He surveyed the boat again. Momo was now trying to scratch open nuts he’d found, to the kids’ amusement, the parents were pointing and talking with each other about things they saw outside the boat, and then there was the handsome stranger.

He was just sitting there, head tucked down and arms crossed like he was planning on taking a nap. His eyes were even closed.

“Did you really just pay money to take a nap on the boat?” He asked incredulously. The man opened his eyes and looked at him.

“You said so yourself, it’s too cheap.”

“Dude, how close to me were you? I literally whispered it!”

“It definitely wasn't a whisper.”

“Oh, sure. You didn’t answer my question. Did you come here to nap?” He stared at Sokka, searching his face while he thought.

“Yes.” He then reverted back to his original position and closed his eyes again. ‘Whatever,’ he thought.

“Okay, everybody get ready, the boat’s about to move,” Toph yelled when she heard the engine start. The wooden floor vibrated, so she sat with her legs crossed on an empty seat by the kids. She didn’t like ‘artificial vibration’ as she called it, she preferred to feel the earth move under her bare feet.

Sokka watched the sleeping passenger, not in a creepy way, but he tried figuring out what was going on with the guy. He had an ominous aura, and Sokka didn’t think it was the visually unpleasant scar. He looked pissed off, like if one thing went wrong, he’d snap. Maybe he just had a permanent frown. He was also wearing dark clothes, a red plaid button-down shirt and dark wash jeans with his brown leather boots. It was a good look on him, but to Sokka, he looked like he lived in the wilderness.

“Lumberjack!” He realized, accidentally saying it out loud. 

“Why are you talking to yourself about lumberjacks, dumbass?” Toph sneered. “And why are you staring at that guy?” ‘Why is it today everyone’s paying close attention to me?’ He wondered.

“How do you know, you can’t see!”

“Well, since you didn’t deny it, I know for a fact you are!” Sokka groaned.

“Why do you keep tricking me like that?” Toph snickered and felt her way back to the kids, who were overjoyed that she brought back Momo, who had been sitting on her head.

“I mean, it is kind of obvious,” a voice agreed. Sokka looked in its direction and the lumberjack-looking guy was facing him.

“What? I don’t know what you’re talking about!” Sokka denied.

“You can’t deny it, I caught you staring at ME. I can’t be wrong about that.”

“I would’ve noticed if you were looking back at me.”

“Not if you were in a trance, which you were.”

“Will everyone stop paying attention to me?” Sokka cried.

“That’s kind of hard when you’re so obviously acting strange.” Sokka glared and clapped as if he’d come up with a really good idea, leaning his head back again, once again on his arms.

“Fine. I’ll prove to you that I’m not acting strange by taking a nap myself. Then I can’t stare at anybody because my eyes will be closed.” The other guy nodded.

“Okay, try it. But if I catch you staring again, you can’t deny it.” Sokka rolled his eyes.

“Fine. But wouldn’t that mean you’re staring at ME if you're watching for me to open my eyes?” He shrugged.

“I guess.”

“And there’s no problem with that?”

“I’m gay, shouldn’t I be looking at guys?” To Sokka’s disappointment, his first thought after hearing that was ‘great, there is no reason for him to reject you if you shoot your shot!’ 

He closed his eyes and ignored the strange notions buzzing around his head at kilometers a second. ‘Just nap!’ He mentally told himself, but it got lost somewhere among ‘compliment him’ and ‘ask for his number.’ 

Sokka ignored everything, focusing on the steady sloshing of the river against the side of the tour boat.

“What’s that called?” The man asked, probably pointing to something outside the boat.

“Are you trying to get me to open my eyes?”

“Maybe.” 

“What is your problem, asshole?” He heard a small laugh, and it made his face grow warm. “I’m serious, you’re the one acting weird, I don’t even know you and you’ve come out to me, picked on me, and possibly flirted with me? You have a way of blurring lines, dude,” Sokka accused.

“Zuko, so you can stop calling me ‘asshole’ and ‘dude.’” This time, his voice was closer, almost- ‘Did he move to sit right next to me?!’

“I’m going to open my eyes now.”

“Hm, tired of not getting to see me?”

“No!” His eyes flew open and sure enough, Zuko wasn’t sitting where he used to be, but on Sokka’s left, their shoulders almost touching.

“In case you didn’t know, you’re also gay.”

“Who gave you the right to decide?”

“My gaydar.”

“Your WHAT?”

“I can just tell. Your vibe, I guess.”

“You are CRAZY, get away from me.” Sokka scooted as far to his left as he could, which wasn’t much, since he was practically squished against the wall to begin with. Zuko chuckled again. “This isn't funny, you’re weird!”

The boat’s engine died down and Sokka looked out the window. ‘Over already?’

“Give me your phone.”

“No, you’re crazy, if I haven’t told you enough today.”

“Fine, put your number in mine, then.” Sokka mouth made an ‘O’ shape and the boys exchanged phones, typing their numbers in. “I’ll text you later, Mr. ‘I’m not crazy, you’re crazy!’” 

“Sokka.”

“No, I like mine better,” Zuko grinned before stepping off the boat.

“Somebody got a boyfriend!” Toph cheered.

“You don’t know anything, you can’t see.”

“Wow, thanks for being so sensitive. I have ears, dumbass.” Aang came out of the captain’s quarters and patted Sokka on the back.

“That’s my non-blood-related big brother! Already starting his life and finding a nice partner!” Sokka waved everyone away.

“Shut up, will you? Personal space, guys, personal space!”


	3. Crazy Person

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this one was meh. i guess it's fine.

“Sokka! Why don’t you go advertise the boat?” Katara suggested. He groaned. 

“Why did we even get a boat anyway? We could do ANYTHING, and we got a tour boat.”

“We get to spend time in nature and get paid for bringing people along!”

“Yes, I love spending time in nature as A SOURCE OF INCOME.” 

“Go!” He put his hands up in defeat and walked down the boat’s ramp to a path that led from the dock to the riverside town. He scratched the back of his neck nervously. ‘What am I supposed to do?’ He wondered.

“Um… we have a boat!” He yelled, waving around to gather attention. “And we give rides for pretty cheap! You can see the life around and in the river! We’ve got a geologist to tell you about nature, a meteorologist that can talk about the wind and stuff, a strong warrior to protect us, and a… uh…” he had trouble coming up with a title for Katara since she just kind of captained the boat. “And a hydrologist that knows about water! And they can tell you about pretty much anything you see! So we have an educational boat tour going, and we leave in…” Sokka pulled out his phone to check the time and literally jumped. “Shit, we leave in five minutes! If you want to ride the tour boat, follow me!” 

He sprinted down the path, not hearing many footsteps. ‘Let's hope a lot of people already came.’ Aang was standing at the bottom of the ramp, collecting money and letting people on. Sokka waved and he let him on, a joke the boat workers had going that Sokka had to be allowed on the boat by another employee. 

He walked up the ramp and sat on the end of the benh at the front of the boat, then surveyed the passengers. There were a few families at the back, the adults were chatting with Suki while the kids played with Toph, who would pull cool-looking rocks out of her pockets to show them and tell them about. Katara was standing in what she deemed the ‘captain’s quarters’, or the room with the steering wheel. 

Aang climbed aboard after the last passenger. When Sokka saw him, he froze. His heart started beating faster and he breathed heavier. ‘Woah.’ He had a big scar over his left eye, pale skin, and dark hair hanging down over his ears and eyebrows. The man sat on the opposite side of the aisle, a little closer to the back than Sokka. He tucked his head down and crossed his arms, closing his eyes. 

Sokka shook his head, realizing he was staring, and caught Suki smirking at him. He stuck his tongue out back at her.

“Okay, everyone! We’re getting ready to start the ride, so hold on while we get going!” Toph exclaimed once she felt the boat vibrate with the engines. Aang had disappeared into the captain’s quarters a while ago.

Sokka’s attention drifted back to the hot stranger. He was dressed nicely, a red and green plaid button-down shirt, dark wash skinny jeans, and leather boots. ‘Hot.’

“Do you always stare at passengers?” Sokka blinked a few times and started sputtering.

“Wh- no, of course not, besides, this is our first ride anyway, so no, no I don’t!”

“Well, that’s kind of strange, considering you’ve been staring at me quite a bit and it hasn’t even been five minutes.” Sokka gaped at him before composing himself, frowning.

“Actually, how would you know unless you were staring back at me?” 

“I don’t stare, I look around. My eyes glazed over you before I looked back because you were staring at me.”

“Is it really that big of a deal? Just go back to sleep and I’ll do my own thing.”

“Checking out guys?”

“No!” Sokka objected. “I’ll go to sleep too so that way neither of us can stare at each other.”

“Okay.” Sokka grinned smugly and laid his head back on his hands with his eyes closed. “Tell me about your friend over there.” Sokka was tempted to open his eyes.

“Which one?”

“The one that can see.”

“How do you know Toph can’t see?”

“The sign out there had all of you on it and a mini-biography, Sokka.” He rolled his eyes. ‘Katara, what the fuck?’ 

“But you remember my name, not hers?” The man shook his head. Sokka still had his eyes closed, so he peeked them open to see his answer. He pointed and laughed.

“Got you! Your eyes opened.”

“Asshole. You didn’t really want to know about Suki, did you?”

“Hm, she’s a warrior and she’s hot, I don’t see why not.”

“Woah woah woah, that’s my ex-girlfriend and BFF, stay back!”

“So you’re bi too?” Sokka paused. He’d never given anything like that much thought, and yet, here he was, quickly falling for this stranger with previous experience with Yue and Suki. He shrugged slowly.

“I don’t know.”

“No label is fine.”

“But you said ‘too’. Are YOU bi?” He nodded.

“I dated this one girl, Mai, but we were better off as friends. She had a thing for another friend, Ty Lee, realized she wasn’t into guys at all. I have no other experience.”

“Well, I know your friends’ names, what’s yours?” Sokka asked.

“Zuko.”

“Nice. You already know my name.” Zuko nodded. ‘Zuko. Everything about him is just… perfect. He’s pretty, funny, an asshole, has a cool name, dresses perfectly…’ “Well, I’m going to sleep for real this time, don’t bother, me, Zuko.”

Zuko stood and quickly moved over to Sokka’s side of the boat to sit. He frowned with his closed eyes and heard a breathy laugh from his right. The corners of his lips perked up a bit.

“Are you sure about that?”

“Asshole,” Sokka exhaled, earning another laugh. They were such pretty sounds. “I don’t know what sort of weird sorcery you do, but keep it away from me!”

“What?” Zuko cried, slightly sliding away and chuckling a little at Sokka’s sudden odd command.

“Stay back! Your weird, crazy-person energy makes my heart beat too fast! I do cardio on my own time, not yours!” Zuko burst out laughing at Sokka’s stupidity. “I’m serious! You’re crazy!” Zuko experimentally poked Sokka’s shoulder. His eyes shot open and his face started heating. “I was trying to sleep!”

“You sound like you’re having fun. You’re very loud, I can hear you at the back of the boat. If you keep this up, you may have a boat full of spectators.”

“Go away, Suki. No! Wait! Don’t! Save me, this guy is crazy and he’s using magic on me!” Suki covered her mouth to hide a giggle as she walked away again.

“Your friends are very caring.” Sokka grumbled under his breath at Zuko’s remark. The boat stopped vibrating, the engines shutting off as Katara entered the passengers’ section of the boat. She stopped and eyed Sokka sitting with Zuko nearly touching shoulders with him and shook her head, looking forward again.

“The boat ride is over, thanks for riding with us!” The families stood and made their way off the boat.

“Give me your phone,” Zuko asked.

“WHAT? No, you’re crazy!” Zuko rolled his eyes.

“Fine, then put your number in my phone.” Sokka mentally face-palmed but also rolled his eyes at Zuko not being clear with what he wanted. He handed Zuko his phone and put his number in his. 

The handsome passenger poked Sokka’s shoulder again before leaving.

“Ooh, Sokka’s got a boyfriend!” Aang sang, coming out of the captain’s quarters.

“Embrace the gay,” Toph advised. A ‘ping’ distracted Sokka and he pulled his phone out of his pocket to see a text from Zuko (though he had put himself in Sokka’s contacts as ‘CrAzY pErSoN’), ‘💗💙💜’. He smiled and put his phone away, getting off the boat.

“Hey! Where do you think you’re going?” Katara yelled after him.

“I’m treating myself. I just realized I’m bi, you know.”

**Author's Note:**

> tumblr @boku-no-bread  
> twitter @berrry72957356  
> 👉👈 please be my friend 👉👈


End file.
